Gadgets

U.S. government declares hoverboards unsafe

That's the startling conclusion the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) reached after its months-long investigation into the safety hazards posed by hoverboards.

On Thursday, Mashable has learned, the CPSC sent out an official notice to retailers, manufacturers and importers with new hoverboard safety standards that, if not followed, could result in enforcement actions, including seizure of the devices as well as civil and criminal penalties.

More directly, the CPSC is calling on hoverboard makers and sellers to voluntarily take hoverboards off the market until they can be certified as safe by UL, the independent testing firm widely used by U.S. electronics manufacturers. UL has not yet certified any hoverboards as safe.

While the CPSC's action doesn't constitute a recall by itself, it will almost certainly prompt recalls from major retailers and manufacturers. The notice applies to all self-balancing scooters, including single-wheel devices.

A burned hoverboard in an image from the CPSC.

Image: U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission

As we reported earlier this month, the UL only recently created a new certification protocol specifically addressing hoverboards (as opposed to the chargers that come with them) and any other self-balancing scooter. What that means is that any hoverboard brand currently displaying the UL mark on its packaging is doing so without authentic certification from the safety testing company.

Now, backed by the official notice from the CPSC, hoverboard makers and retailers are finally directly accountable and officially compelled by the federal government to comply with the safety standards issued by UL.

The CPSC "considers self-balancing scooters that do not meet the safety standards referenced above to be defective, and that they may present a substantial product hazard," reads the agency's notice. "Consumers risk serious injury or death if their self-balancing scooters ignite and burn. ... Should the staff encounter such products at import, we may seek detention and/or seizure. In addition, if we encounter such products domestically, we may seek a recall of these products."

"This is us drawing a line in the sand and a notice for the entire hoverboard community," Elliot F. Kaye, the chairman of the CPSC, told Mashable. "From our perspective, a smart retailer will put in place a stop sale to find out if their inventory complies with the UL standard. If they are certain that it doesn’t, they should then issue a recall proposal."

In addition to UL's hoverboard tests, the CPSC conducted its own series of hoverboard tests. Those tests included voltage tests of the devices while in use, inspection of the hoverboard circuit boards and batteries, examination of previously burned hoverboards, dynamometer tests (to measure the force of the devices) and even CT scans of hoverboard batteries. No particular brand of hoverboard is shown in the testing video, and the agency declined to name which brands of hoverboards it tested.

A CPSC official tests a hoverboard in the agency's facility.

"We were not able to fully replicate an open flame," Kaye said, adding, "We were able to get the temperature hot enough that there was significant melting and other signs of overheating."

Although none of the hoverboards tested by the CPSC caught fire during the tests, the agency nevertheless felt confident in issuing its new directive to hoverboard makers and retailers.

"It’s my expectation that [retailers] will start the process to make any potential recall easier," Kaye said.

He added a warning for those who might still intend to sell the popular devices. "All options remain on the table, including legal action," he said. "Regardless of who the seller or manufacturer is."

A CPSC official examines the burned remains of a hoverboard.

Image: CPSC

So the verdict is in: No matter what the brand or the cost of your hoverboard, according to U.S. government officials, unless it undergoes UL's new safety protocol, it represents a safety hazard and should not be sold or used by consumers. In recent months some consumers have come to believe that higher-priced hoverboards are somehow safer than lower-priced hoverboards, a notion Kaye dismisses, as the safety issues impact all hoverboards, regardless of price.

The agency's notice means U.S. officials will not only investigate brick-and-mortar retailers who could be breaking the rules, but it will also go after importers. "We will begin targeting when the ships are still on the water," Kaye said.

"The CPSC staff will follow up as appropriate in the future to ensure that the firms are meeting their obligations in this area," reads the agency's letter.

According to the CPSC, from Dec. 1 to Feb. 17, the agency received reports of 52 hoverboard fires that led to over $2 million in property damage. That damage included the destruction of an automobile and two homes. No known deaths have occurred as a result of a hoverboard fire. (According to media reports, two dogs were killed in a California house fire, and three children barely escaped their burning home in the UK.)

Shanna Abraham, 13, with the remains of her hoverboard that exploded over the weekend while charging, causing minor damage to her family's home in Orland Park, Ill.

Image: Zbigniew Bzdak, Chicago Tribune, TNS

Despite dozens of reports of exploding hoverboards, the devices remain popular with consumers and were the hottest new tech toy of the holiday season. A hoverboard even played a central role in last weekend's NBA All-Star festivities, with one player using the device in his performance during the Slam Dunk Contest.

After initially pulling the devices from its site in December following isolated reports of hoverboard fires in the media, Amazon put the devices back on sale just a week later. Then, in January, the CPSC announced Amazon was offering refunds to anyone who had purchased a hoverboard from the site. However, Amazon has yet to make any official statement regarding hoverboards, despite repeated requests for comment from Mashable.

A CPSC official tests a hoverboard in the agency's facility.

Image: CPSC

And on Sunday, the New York Postreported that Walmart and Toys ‘R’ Us, which already sell hoverboards online, planned to begin selling them in their brick-and-mortar stores as soon as April. Those plans may now need to be re-evaluated.

But even with the CPSC's official notice in place, it will be difficult to track down all the smaller retailers selling the devices online and in small street shops.

Still, consumers and retailers alike now have official guidance on hoverboard safety after a confusing holiday season in which there were no safety standards in place.

If things work as the CPSC hopes, hoverboard manufacturers and retailers will follow the agency's notice and we'll begin to see safety-certified hoverboards in stores later this year. But even with the electronic safety guidelines in place, the overall danger of physical injury from hoverboard use is still a concern.

"I don’t want consumers to think that if the fire hazard is resolved that the devices are safe," Kaye warned, citing numerous reports the CPSC has received about people suffering injuries after falling off hoverboards. "[Hoverboards are] never going to be entirely safe products. There is some inherent safety risk, as there is with a skateboard."

Additional reporting by Lance Ulanoff.

Read the CPSC's letter:

EARLIER: Man's hoverboard combusts on sidewalk

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